Bankrupty Could Breed Real School Reform

by Collin Hitt Economic high times won’t be here soon, and even when they return state governments and school districts will still find themselves in fiscal straight jackets sewn with pension fund promises.  Jay Greene thinks that this could lead  lawmakers to substitute meaningful school reform for the old recipe of simply spending more money (which hasn’t...

by Collin Hitt

Economic high times won’t be here soon, and even when they return state governments and school districts will still find themselves in fiscal straight jackets sewn with pension fund promises.  Jay Greene thinks that this could lead  lawmakers to substitute meaningful school reform for the old recipe of simply spending more money (which hasn’t worked).

Things are going to be very tough for education spending going forward.

But there is a silver lining to this very dire situation:  tight budgets improve the odds for serious education reform…

State and local politicians who have no interest in vouchers or charters, per se, will suddenly become very enthusiastic about any proposal that helps them figure out how to pay pension obligations without huge layoffs, giant tax increases, or bankruptcy.